Only one will have the last Cackle
by bookwrm
Summary: Miss Cackle's life story intermixed with the Mean Halloween episode.
1. Flower Power

_Just a warning; there is a lot of parts to this story. Parts that will take some time that I don't have right now.This story is going to be one of those that takes a while to finishbut takes some wacky turns.And it's about Miss Cackle because honestly I always wonder about her life. SO enjoy, it's going to be a looong ride!_

The sunlight burned brightly on the stack of papers on the staffroom table waiting to be graded. Miss Hardbroom was busy pouring herself a cup of tea; she had finished her classes' papers unlike Miss Cackle, who was staring at the very white paper in front of her.

Suddenly, as if an answer to her prayers, Miss Bat fluttered in with grass in her hair and roses in her hand. "Ahh the last flowers of the season, the frost will come along to put these little ones to sleep." "Hmm if only that worked for some people as well", Miss Hardbroom grunted. Miss Bat turned her back on Miss HArdbroom and handed the flowers to Miss Cackle. "To you headmistress," and she skipped out again.

The soft sensitive petals like a child's cheek. It reminded her of the rose garden. Padded fragrant moss like a thick carpet and gentle vines above encircling the trees and the rose bushes; connecting everything. So young, so young.

She snapped out of her momentary trance and laid the flowers on the desk. She had work to do. Lots of work.

It was very comfortable in the cool shade. The crisp breeze of fall tickled her toes as she lied on the ground reading her newest story and holding the cold hard gold medal that had been attached to it.

"Amelia, Amelia where are you?" Amelia Cackle gasped as she heard her twin sister Agatha call out her name. Even though the girls were both five years old Agatha took the liberty of bossing around Amelia as if she were five years older. She sunk back conveniently into a bush and tried not to make a sound.

"Amelia I will turn you into a frog!" "You know you're not allowed to do magic," a little voice peeped out. Agatha turned her head around quickly to the sound of the noise. "Well if I turn you into a frog you won't be able to tell. Come on Amelia, I need someone for my lab experiment. I need to practice my potions so I can be the best in my class." Amelia sighed, her sister couldn't even make real potions. She put rocks, grass, and mud into a cauldron and pretended it was an obedience potion. Whoever drank it would have to do whatever she said. Amelia pointed out that it wasn't a real potion but she refused to drink it when Agatha asked so Agatha still held the idea that her potion was superior.

"You know I won't eat mud Agatha!" "Well this time I made an even better potion. I snuck into mother's store cupboard and took some important ingredients." Oh no what if Agatha had made a real potion, and if mother noticed those ingredients were missing Amelia would somehow get blamed by Agatha; she was so tricky! Deciding that Agatha would find her eventually she got up out of the bushes and stepped out in the clearing with her arms crossed.

"There you are, come with me!" "No Agatha, you can't make me do anything I don't want to do." Those were dangerous words, Agatha could find some way to make her life miserable. "Oh okay fine, then I'll test you later when you aren't expecting it. I wanted to know exactly what kind of sickness potion I invented!" Hmm this could be a fib but Amelia wasn't sure. "Okay fine, see if I care, you know, why don't you just go test it on the cat Agatha." Agatha screwed her face together, gave a loud humpff, and walked away. Amelia was safe for now and just to make sure her sister wasn't up to something she decided to spy on her.

She knew exactly where her sister might be to. She snuck through the garden and through the doors of the greenhouse. She inhaled the sweet smells of the roses and gardenias as she ran through it to the hallway. Stopping to take off her muddy shoes she snuck through the kitchen, careful not to let cook see her, and through the dining room to the great staircase. She pulled back a second as she saw her sister descending the top of the staircase. Seeing her sister disappear into the upstairs hallway, Amelia quickly tiptoed up the stairs and snuck into the sewing room. It was dark and quiet as Amelia opened the closet doors and tossed aside some boxes. There it was; the trap door that lead to many twisting tunnels in the house. She crouched down and crept inside turning to the left, then up a slant, then right for a long way, then up another slant, and finally right again. She paused against a little door, much like the one she had entered, and listened hard. She pushed the door open a little and saw a dark shape and some smoke. Yep, this was the right room alright.

"Double double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble, " Agatha read. Amelia scoffed. Her sister wasn't doing real magic, she was reading from Macbeth, Amelia's copy in fact. Her sister was a lot of talk but she had little magic to back it up. Amelia felt like marching right out of the trapdoor but she decided that she would at least wait to see what her sister was up to. Agatha kept waving her hands, perhaps expecting a poof or something but of course nothing happened. Then a strange thing happened; Agatha sat on the floor and pounded both her hands down in anger. "Why can't I do it! Well at least Amelia can't do any magic either." Amelia felt strange, she had never really understood her sister's mean behavior but now she was starting to gather that maybe her sister didn't like being a twin. Sometimes they had fun and played tricks on other people by switching places but lately her sister had become more and more agitated. Perhaps she wanted to be better than Amelia; maybe she was jealous of her new prize.

Just then an older taller gentleman stepped in the room. "Miss Agatha, your grandmother is here and your mother wants me to bring you and Amelia down for tea." "Yes Smith," Agatha proclaimed, getting off the floor with a big smile on her face, "Amelia is in the garden; I'll go and fetch her." She gave a courtesy and the butler bowed and left. As her sister started cleaning up, Amelia scuttled back to the sewing room thinking about what she had just witnessed.

Miss Cackle awoke with a start. "Mmmm running," She blurted out as she fell out of her chair. She was at Cackle's Academy. She could have sworn she was hurrying through the corridors of her childhood home. Well for a short while anyways. Cackle's was her real childhood home in retrospect. She sighed and fell to grading papers. Mildred Hubble. She sighed again and picked up her pen, the shadow reflected on the paper by the flame of the lamplight.


	2. Something Familiar

Note: Yes, sorry it's been a very long time. To be quite honest I started getting anxious about the story, feeling that I wasn't characterizing Aggie right and that the story was too predictable so I completely deleted 4 more hum drum chapters. Good news is I finally have a bit more of an idea and will at least try to get this story going again. Better news: I am also really excited about another story about HB and might be starting that story as well. Two at a time….well it's kind of like having twins I expect. ;)

Jasmine. Miss Amelia Cackle breathed in the fragrant steam from her tea cup as she tried to ascertain whether she should laugh at the idea of Mildred and her friends dressed up in witch masks or if she should be highly offended, as Constance was.

Of course Constance's morning reports were never ones of happy news so Amelia had taken it with a grain of salt, or, er, a crumb of lemon poppy seed muffin to be exact.

Impersonating wicked witches; yes there were some truly wicked witched out there and Amelia happened to be related to one of them.

And as for Mildred, here she gave a poignant sigh, hopefully she wouldn't be expelled. Amelia had seen creativity and originality in Mildred's entrance test; something different from the mundane perfect Ethel Hallows of the world. She should get a chance! She should get a chance especially when she was so much like….

"Mellie!!!", Amelia Cackle panted, out of breath, blond pigtails bobbing.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mia," Melanie Hattrick cried out, "I wanted to see if I could catch up to Wilemina to get my frog back, I didn't mean to leave without you, we always walk to class together." Having stopped, she tossed a messy brown braided pigtail over her shoulder and bent over to tie her undone boot laces.

"It's alright; you just took off like a bat."

"Well hopefully you don't mean Davina, because we all know she's one Bat that isn't very good at taking off!!"

The two laughed together and headed down the fading hallway.

As the scene faded completely Amelia brushed Agatha, Melanie, and Mildred from her mind as she settled down to read a letter from The Grand Wizard outlining the details of the upcoming Halloween celebration.

But as luck would have it, Mildred Hubble was not one to be banished from the teachers' minds for long. There was a knock at the door; hesitant and meek, but it was there. Amelia closed her eyes as she said, "Come in", hoping to the puddles of Gloucester that it wasn't who she thought it would be.

"I'm sorry Miss," Mildred squeaked.

Miss Cackle sighed again, twice in one morning. "What are you in for this time Mildred?"

"Well, you see, I made the wrong potion in class today. We were supposed to make a laughter potion and I made an invisibility potion."

Miss Cackle's somewhat forced smile faded off her face. Mildred felt strangely sad; she hated to see Miss Cackle disappointed, it was worse than seeing Miss Hardbroom enraged.

"Mildred," she began pursing her lips together, "I'm not even sure what to say to you anymore. You are constantly sent to my office for various mishaps that far exceed simple potion mistakes. You, you must be the worst witch in the entire school. I hate to say it but, unless you are more careful and work harder in the future, you may never get you Witches Higher Certificate."

"I'm so sorry headmistress, but no matter how hard I try, things just go wrong."

"Well Mildred, even if that may be, you must take your education more seriously. Don't underestimate Miss Hardbroom or I, we will be forced to, uh, take drastic action if you don't improve. You must try harder Mildred."

"Yes Miss Cackle."

"Good Mildred, now, you are free to go back to class, run along."

Mildred nodded and slowly backed out the door with a downcast look. Miss Cackle just shook her head; maybe she had been wrong. Perhaps there was a time when you had to give up on students. She shook her head vigorously, though no one was there to see it; Mildred wasn't lost yet and she, Amelia, would keep fighting.

Whether it was for Mildred's sake or maybe it was still for her own, she didn't quite know.

Mildred, Melanie. Oh Melanie.

Amelia closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift back to the memories.

"Uggh this chowder tastes awful!" Melanie exclaimed.

Amelia nodded in approval, her mouth filled with the awful substance. The two of them were eating lunch by themselves in the corner of the room.

"Hey Mia."

"Mmmph", muttered Amelia

"Look, Davina is sitting all alone again; maybe we should go sit with her so she isn't alone." Sure enough there was Davina Bat, a young witch with curly brown hair, sitting alone and humming to herself as she wrote something down on a piece of paper. She was slurping up her chowder with such gusto she must have actually liked it.

"Yes, I think that is a good idea, although I doubt she will even notice anyone else has even sat down." The two girls grabbing their trays and walked over to the table Davina was sitting at.

"Hello Davina, mind if we join you? Davina?"

"Ahh, yes, so sorry, I was transcribing the school song into A minor. It takes up most of my attention." Both Amelia and Melanie smiled knowingly and sat down.

"So Davina," began Amelia, "What did you think about Miss Cauldren's potion test today? It was pretty challenging."

"Well yes, I suppose, but if you put in the right ingredients you will be fine."

Both girls looked at each other blankly; sometimes Davina could be too literal.

Lunchtime ended up being a rather quiet affair and Amelia found herself relieved when it was time to go back to class. After lunch they always had spells; Amelia's favorite class. Of course she was good at potions, chanting, and broomstick flying, but she was especially good at casting spells. To her it was like poetry; she loved reading the spells, focusing on the sounds the words made together and the rhyming pattern. A potion was very precise, very textbook, but spells were much more subjective.

She groaned inwardly as she saw her twin Aggie, also slightly chubby with blonde pigtails, sitting up near the front of the class with some of her friends. Their hatred of each other had only gotten worse since they had started school. Agatha had immediately risen to the role of teacher's pet; she was sweet and serious in class and never failed to get an answer right.

Amelia, on the other hand, was far from the teacher's pet. She did well in school, perhaps equal to the level of her sister, but was constantly getting into to trouble. Some of it was Melanie's fault; she was a non witch and was just getting the hang of magic. The first day they had met she had sat down next to Amelia and had started jabbering away; the tow had quickly become friends. It was only later that day that Amelia had realized Melanie was going to need quite a bit of help not blowing up the potions lab.

Of course, most of the time the pair got into trouble it was usually Aggie's fault. Aggie was so quick at spells that Melanie never had a chance to stop them. However it was also very helpful to be the granddaughter of the headmistress; Amelia still had her fair share of detentions, but her grandmother let her slip by in most cases.

Suddenly Miss Moonstone popped into the room with a flourish. She giggled and said, "Alright class, who is ready to try one of the most important spells you will ever learn?" The class murmured in acceptance. "Today's spell is one every witch should know: a proper reversing spell. I mean, you never know when you or a loved one will be changed into a frog! Now say it after me girls: Reversus Revolvus returnus resolvus illio allio redux reducio!"

The class split up into pairs and practiced changing each other into various animals and then reversing it. It took Mellie several tries to turn Amelia back into a person; she had made the common mistake of mispronouncing the last word 'reducio', which turned Amelia into a duck! Agatha roared with laughter as she was the transformation.

"That's right, just leave her as a duck, she's kind of quacky anyways!" Her sidekicks roared with laughter.

"Well if she is a duck than Davina should certainly be turned into a bat!" shouted Hortensia Hallow, as she promptly turned a confused Davina into a bat.

"EEEEEEEEEEE", Wilemina Wormwood shrieked, "I hate bats, I hate bats; Aggie make it stop." Agatha turned Davina Bat back into a human right as Miss Moonstone walked around her way.

"Ah, excellent Agatha, you've got the spell down quite well," praised the teacher. "Keep trying Melanie, and remember to say 'redooochio' and not 'reduckio' this time."

"Reversus Revolvus returnus resolvus illio allio redux…"

"Reduckio" said Miss Cackle with a start.

"No headmistress, I didn't say anything about ducks, I said Punky Night," said Miss Bat, prancing about the room.

It was going to be a very long day indeed.


	3. The Old Song and Dance

"Is this the sort of thing that will impress the Grand Wizard?" Stated Miss Hardbroom.

"Uuhh!" Gasped Miss Bat

"Well what do you suggest Miss Hardbroom?" Asked Miss Drill, with a hint of doubt on her face.

"I was thinking of something more elegant," said HB as she walked over to the mantle and rested her arm on it comfortably.

Seeing that the rest of the staff was waiting, she paused for good measure and then said, "The Ballad of Lucy Fairweather, a Halloween classic. You see, Lucy Fairweather was a tragic orphan who married Baron Overblow. Our tableau would focus on her most famous deed; rescuing the oppressed peasantry. We would start with three…."

Of course she knew the very story that Miss Hardbroom was describing. She knew it so well because she had researched it in depth during her first year at school for a history presentation.

"Lucy Elizabeth Fairweather was born in England….She was an orphan……..Lucy once saved a whole village from burning…..Oh I know all this!" Amelia Cackle slammed her fist down on the table in anger.

"O woo!!" She cried as pain shot up through her arm. "I'm so stupid."

"Seeing that you are the very last person in this library I somehow doubt that," Granny Cackle said, stepping out of the shadows.

"Granny Cackle, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break the rules. I….I didn't even see you."

"No, you wouldn't have. You were completely engrossed. And what, pray tell, are you doing up so late?"

"I really wanted to find more information about Lucy Fairweather for my history report tomorrow. It's all ready but it just sounds so boring. I thought there might be something I missed, something that would give my report a new twist."

Granny Cackle smiled, "Sometimes the books in the library are too safe and sometimes too boring."

Amelia looked shocked at this remark, then chuckled a little at the bemused look on her grandmother's face.

"In fact," Granny Cackle continued, "I believe that I may have a few interesting books in my office." Amelia's eyes widened at the thought of what could be in these secret books.

Mrs. Aurelia Cackle motioned for her granddaughter to follow her along the deserted corridors to her dark study.

"Lucious luc lightus," Granny Cackle chanted as the lights promptly came on. The older woman moved toward the bookcase and ran her fingers over the spines of the voluminous novels.

"Here we go, I have a copy of 'Famous Girlfriends throughout the Ages', 'A History of Liberators', and 'From Till Death Do We Part to the Death Penalty: The biography of Lucy Fairweather'."

"Wow," Amelia's eyes bugged out in amazement, "This is exactly what I needed!! Thanks Granny Cackle!"

And so she sat down in Granny Cackle's chair (little did she know the chair would one day be her own) and began to read.

"I've got it!!! She jumped out of the chair and startled Granny Cackle, who was reading 'The Complete Dr. Foster's Effect' in a plush armchair by the fireplace.

"There is so much about Lucy Fairweather our textbook didn't say; I think I am going to make my presentation like a radio show and do a shocking expose on Lucy. I can even give some students questions to ask me before hand." Her eyes were shining as she thought it out.

Granny Cackle smiled and said, "I knew you'd think of something dear; creativity counts, especially when it comes to teaching."

Amelia nodded and beamed at the praise and sat down to begin writing her radio show.

"Amelia, Amelia"

"Mmmuph," came the muffled reply from the textbooks; Amelia had fallen asleep at Granny Cackle's desk.

She felt strong arms picking her up. "Come along dear heart. It's time for bed Amelia."

"…And then the air born Lucy would cast an unbinding spell, thus freeing the peasants, and then would perform a choreographed broomstick display," finished Miss Hardbroom determinedly.

"Well, what do you think headmistress? Miss Cackle? Amelia!!"

"What!! Oh, Granny Ca….I…Constance" I'm sorry, I must have, uh, dozed o…..I mean I was imagining your descriptive directions," she said when Miss Hardbroom flashed a rather piercing glare.

"I think that would be lovely Constance," said Miss Cackle very carefully. "Davina," she continued diplomatically, "I think your song is very exciting and interesting, but I do think Miss Hardbroom is correct; a traditional approach to Halloween would probably be more advisable." Miss Bat looked a bit crushed but nodded quickly and didn't flee into the cupboard, which was very encouraging.

Indeed, Amelia did heartily enjoy the Punky Night song; most of the time she did enjoy the selections Davina had put together. That was why she had hired Davina when she took over the academy. At that point she still had Miss Moonstone and Miss Cauldron on staff, as aged and faded as they were, but had lost Mrs. Newt the young chanting teaching, due to an unexpected pregnancy. Davina had been the first person to come to mind; mainly because she was an old friend, but more so because of her persistent interest in music. It did take some effort to track Davina down (she had been touring with the up and coming band 'The Mice Girls'), but Amelia had managed to convince her that the band wouldn't last.

"The only problem is, Miss Cackle," Miss Hardbroom began speaking after a few moments of thought, "selecting who will play Lucy Fairweather. Personally I think it should be Ethel, she is the strongest flyer out of the first years."

"Yes, she is indeed Constance, but don't you think we ought to be fair about this?"

"Fair? Why, there is no need to have tryouts! We all know that we would end up selecting Ethel anyways. Or do you perhaps think that Mildred Hubble has been playing a joke on us this term and is, in reality, a brilliant flyer?"

"No," Miss Drill stood up, "None of us doubt that Ethel is a good broomstick flyer, but maybe it would be best if we let some of the other girls have a chance to shine."

"Chance to shine?" Miss Hardbroom repeated, pursing her lips together and wrinkling her nose.

"Yes," Miss Cackle said slowly, "I think that is a good idea. Cackle's Halloween celebration has always been about doing something traditional yet creative. It is about celebrating what makes us special, and showing the Grand Wizard that Cackle's is still training brilliant young witches."

"All the more reason to use Ethel; why if we…."

"Miss Hardbroom, I fully believe that Cackle's Academy trains each and every girl to become the best witch she can be." Everyone in the staff room was quiet, Miss Cackle hadn't been harsh but she had spoken out with more intensity than usual. "Why don't you let the girls draw for the lead role? If it happens to be Ethel, great, if not, than any of the other girls will do a wonderful job; they did all pass their broomstick aptitude test."

"And if it's Mildred?"

"Well, the odds are quite against that. But if it is Mildred, then you will give her extra training. I still think it is best to be fair here. Why, when I attended Cackle's, we always had a bit of a contest to determine who would perform for the Grand Wizard."

Amelia conveniently left out the story of how she was in fact chosen one Halloween, long ago, to perform and how that performance led to unthinkable disaster.

"Settle down class, settle down," cried Miss Moonstone, "Really girls, all of this chit chat is hardly necessary before class begins. Anyways, before we start in on the history presentations, I wanted to remind you of the contest to decide what the first years will perform for the grand wizard."

The class murmured in excitement.

"You will have a presentation prepared for the staff by this Friday and it can be whatever you feel is appropriate for a Halloween celebration: a play, a song, a broomstick formation, or even something completely new. The headmistress is looking for something new and fresh this year since the Grand Wizard is also new and fresh, so to speak."

"Ooo, Egbert Helibore," Amelia whispered to Melanie, "I heard that he was in the top of his class at Camelot." Melanie looked confused. "Ah, I always forget there are some things you don't know about the magical community; Camelot is a school for Wizards and Egbert Helibore is the best wizard at that school which is why he was chosen to be the grand wizard, a sort of king of the magical world."

"Girls, please stop whispering back there!!" Miss Moonstone said in an angry tone. "Now, let's move on to the more important matter for today; the history reports. According to my list, Agatha Cackle is signed up to go first"

Agatha stood up smartly and smoothed her skirt.

"Since this Academy is called Cackle's Academy, I thought it would only be appropriate to discuss the family history behind Cackle's."

Amelia groaned inwardly; her sister loved to flaunt her powerful heritage. Amelia was proud to be a Cackle, of course she was, but she didn't see how being a part of a pure witch family made her any different from Melanie or even from Wilemina Wormwood, who had a non wizard for a father.

"As most of you know, or should know, Cackle's was founded by my Great Great Great Great Great Grandmother Hermione Cackle on July 5th 1452. She was more unformally known as Cackle the Jackel. Cackle the Jackel was a highway woman who stole from the rich to give to the poor. In fact, when she took over the academy, her altruistic tendencies continued when she encouraged the girls to use their witch skills to help the outside community. She got the gold to found the academy from another highway man called Mad Mitch, whom she turned into a water rat during a challenge. It is important to note her that Cackles have always been powerful witches. Her granddaughter took over the academy when……"

Amelia sat back in her chair and let her mind roam to the upcoming contest. If she won, maybe life would change for her. After all wasn't Halloween, or samhain as it was called in the old days, a festival to celebrate the dead and the final harvest? Maybe she could finally honor all of the dead headmistresses that had come before her by finally doing something great.

Less than a century later Amelia Cackle was once again thinking of the dead; her ancestors and her own dead past.

* * *

Note: Sorry this took so long to get up. I have been packing all of this week in preparation to move into a new apartment tomorrow. I did work on the story in the 5 spare minutes of freedom I could catch. In any case, the moving process is almost complete and that means more story time. I am working on my other story also. 

Playlist: Joni Mitchell (especially California and Amelia)


	4. Her Burden is Light

Note: If you couldn't tell, the playlist for this chapter is Handel's Messiah ("His yoke is easy, his burden is light…"). Other than that bit of sheer nerdiness I finally have moved into my new place and have set up a schedule in which to work on this story (in between classes and work). I may alternate between this story and the one about HB. I feel as if I am spending more time on this story because I keep getting new ideas and changing how I want the story to end.

* * *

"Wow, I didn't know that Lucy Fairweather was actually married to Barron Overblow!!" Melanie exclaimed, clutching her history book, 'Local History and Legends', tightly to her chest. "I never found anything about a wife when I was researching Sir Walter. I just assumed he lived in that castle on the hill all by himself. It would be so neat to take a field trip to Overblow Castle and really see if it's haunted!!"

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Amelia said nervously.

"Oh Mia, I know you're easily frightened but I bet it wouldn't be so scary in the day light."

"Yeah, I suppose you are right. Although we can't go to Overblow Castle anyhow; it's still a meeting place for wizards. Actually, that might be scarier than the ghosts; a bunch of good looking teenage wizards!!!" The two laughed at the thought of finally meeting boys their own age.

"And what are you two laughing about?" said a booming bratty voice from behind them. Neither girl needed to even turn around to guess who it was.

"Hmm, I don't know Aggie, maybe they are laughing at their own horrible history presentations," said Hortensia Hallow with a snooty tone.

"Or maybe they are laughing at demented Davina's song about the songs of the sparrow sisters," Wilemina Wormwood chuckled, "Oh geez, I am still laughing at the sight of her bopping up and down, singing. What were the lyrics? Something like, "Oh Sparrow, Sparrow, your songs will set me free, Oh Sparrow, Sparrow, I like to sing in trees." The three girls laughed.

"I don't think you should be making fun of Davina, Agatha; she works hard on her music and you know it. And she's always nice to everybody, unlike you!"

"Niceness doesn't get you anywhere Amelia. The problem with you is that you put others before yourself; people are just going to walk all over you. I mean, I do it all the time." Agatha stated with fire in her eyes.

"Is that a threat, sister?"

"I don't need to threaten you, dear twin of mine, because I always win; I was born first which means I don't need to share any attention with you."

"Fine, you say you win everything, well you won't win everything because, because Amelia and I are going to win the Halloween performance contest." Melanie sputtered out.

"Oh, yeah, like a non witch could think of a good idea! Please, I was riding on a real broom when you were only dressing as a witch and going trick or treating."

"Well the trick's on you Agatha, because we will win!" Said Amelia, pushing back her horn rimmed glasses with the tip of her finger.

Agatha looked nonplussed for a moment then rolled her eyes, said, "Well, may the best witch win then," and walked off, her posse in tow.

"Melanie, what are you thinking?!!!! We don't have an idea and quite frankly I don't anticipate us thinking of anything original."

"Come on Mia, you have more creativity in your little finger than Agatha has in her whole body. I've seen you write stories that have all of our class mates enthralled; the characters just come off the page, literally!!!"

"Well, we need an idea, and fast," whispered Amelia, looking generally worried.

"The only thing I can think of is to brainstorm; let's go to the library and look at some books." Amelia nodded in agreement and the two of them headed off towards the library.

She had been so naïve back then. Amelia played the conversation over and over in her mind; why hadn't she realized then that Agatha wasn't playing around? Agatha's grudge was no school girl grudge, she really only thought of herself. That was always her weak point; trying to find a good side in Aggie. She never thought…

"Uugggh." Miss Drill cried, magazine pages flapping fitfully in the air like wounded doves.

"Oh, uh, ah, Imogen, oh, I'm so sorry, I was thinking about the, well I was thinking about the horrid exam results of the second years. I really wasn't focused."

"No Miss Cackle, it was entirely my fault; I was walking and reading again. I just got the new issue of 'High' magazine. There is nothing more satisfying than reading about new outdoor exercise plans!" Miss Cackle forced a smile, her "I don't know what to do in this situation so I will try to look pleased" smile": eyes closed, lips tight, head bowed. Quite frankly her mind was still turned to Agatha. Thinking about her past, especially about Agatha, made her so incredibly angry. She wished that she could have been stronger back then.

Miss Drill had picked up her magazine and had opened the staff room door, holding it open for Miss Cackle.

Amelia went in and started making a cup of tea, Miss Drill plopped down in the arm chair and began reading.

* * *

"Would you like the good news or the bad news?" Miss Hardbroom asked with a sigh.

"Oh no Miss Hardbroom, you don't mean that…" Miss Cackle said, clutching the side of her mug.

"Yes, indeed Miss Cackle, Mildred Hubble has been chosen to be Lucy Fairweather in this year's Halloween presentation."

"Well," Miss Cackle asked hopefully, "I'm guessing that was the bad news, so what's the good news?"

"The good news is that Mildred Hubble has shown improvement this week. This time I actually do believe she will be able to do the part with some hard work."

"That is good news," Miss Drill said raising her eyebrows, "it looks as if the Halloween celebration will impress even the silver tongued Wizard himself."

"He speaks very eloquently," Miss Bat said in a raised voice.

Miss Drill said nothing and went back to reading her magazine.

"I dare say that he will, Miss Bat. The other roles are wonderfully cast. I think Druscilla will make an excellent Overblow and Ethel does make a clear spoken narrator." Miss Hardbroom walked over to the staff table and sat down, sliding over a piece of parchment and a pen. "And now all that remains is to choreograph the broom stick flight. I did have something a bit more ostentatious, but I think something simple and elegant would work just as well and also help Mildred to stay on her broomstick." She bent over the parchment and began scratching the pen across the paper.

Miss Drill had barely looked up from her magazine and Miss Drill was looking rather dreamily at a picture of Egbert Helibore.

Miss Cackle smiled to herself; Egbert Helibore was quite a charming man when he was young. She remembered meeting him for the first time; his dark shaggy hair, rich dirt brown eyes, and smooth unwrinkled purple robes. Then she bit her lip, frowning slightly. The first time she met Egbert Helibore was on that same dreadful Halloween.

She didn't want to think about it, but the image of the young Helibore always brought back memories from that one Halloween presentation. If only she and Melanie hadn't won the competition, if only Agatha had won, maybe things would have been different. Although at the time she had wanted to win so badly. Why, she remembered spending hours with Melanie in the potions lab working on their own presentation.

"Really Amelia, should we even be attempting this potion? It's fourth year honors work! To be honest, our grades in potions aren't that good so I don't think we can even.."

"Mellie!" Amelia Cackle said rather firmly, "I firmly believe that grades are only a measure of how hard we want to work, not how capable we are. All it takes to figure out a potion is a bit of hard work and basic knowledge. Sure we have to work at it, but we are capable."

"But, it's always the smartest students who have the best grades, isn't it?"

"Hardly! Why look at Aggie, sure she's smart but her grades come from an ability to handle the teachers and cheat her way through."

The potion in front of them gave a "poof" and turned purple.

"Was it supposed to do that?" Melanie asked.

"Er, let me check this book." Amelia ran her finger gently but quickly over the textbook. "Yes!! That is exactly what we want!!"

"Perfect, we might actually pull this off!!"

And, as Amelia remembered, they did pull it off. All of the teachers had unanimously agreed that a timed potion light show chronicling the story of the brave witch Lucy Fairweather was traditional yet innovative. The girls were so happy that they had won, they didn't see Agatha positively fuming in the front row.

Little did Amelia Cackle know, Ethel Hallow was, at that very moment, wearing the same vindictive expression as she watched Mildred Hubble practicing out in the courtyard.


	5. According to Plan

NOTE: Got an email requesting for the conclusion of my last two stories. I thought, okay! I actually still had all my notes so it was easy to finish these last two stories.

Thank goodness for Ethel Hallow," uttered a frazzled looking Miss Hardbroom as she burst into the staff room.

"Ah, good progress with the flying tableau Constance?" muttered Amelia, barely looking up over her horned rim glasses.

"Well, yes, so to speak. I'll be the first to admit that Mildred Hubble has shown vast improvement this week but you should have seen the broom she was using; Amelia, the girl is a mess!"

Amelia put down the book she was reading, _Waitstaff to Wizard Staff: The Harrowing Tale of Egbert Helibore's Journey to Becoming Grand Wizard_, and eyed Constance wearily. Constance took no notice and continued in her adulations of Ethel.

"Luckily Ethel lent Mildred her new broom. You know headmistress, I actually feel fairly confident about this presentation. I never thought I could say that, you know I have high standards of perfection."

Miss Drill snorted over in the corner armchair.

Amelia suppressed a smile and said, "I am glad to hear it Constance. And I am also happy to hear that Mildred has met your expectations; I told you all she needed was a second chance."

"Or a fifth and sixth chance Miss Cackle. But, nevertheless, I actually think Mildred has a chance of making this work," said Miss Hardbroom, not unkindly.

I think it will work Constance, I think it will.

…

"Oh Mia, this is going to work so well!"

"You are right Mellie; we have actually perfected this potion. You know, it's a good thing that Miss Moonstone made us test it over and over to ensure accuracy."

"I bet the new Grand Wizard will be so impressed with it he will ask you out on a date!"

"What?" Amelia blushed into a deep shade of rose, "He wouldn't ask me out, not in a million years." Secretly, she couldn't help fantasizing about it; every girl at Cackles had been fantasizing about it since the announcement of his appointment was made.

"Anyways," Amelia continued, "We have to focus on the last part of this potion; I think if we add one more sprig of lavender it will get the real purple color we want without damaging the effect too much."

"Agreed," said Melanie, "Now all we have to do is cast the story spell over it so it plays out our tableau of Lucy Fairweather."

"Exactly," yawned Amelia, "Let's leave this to sit and brew overnight; we can come back tomorrow just before the celebration and add the spell so it's fresh." She stretched her arms towards the sky in a yawn.

The two headed off to bed, locking the potion's door behind them, excited about what the next day would bring.

As if on cue, Agatha popped out of the broom closet in the potions lab. "Gosh, I thought they would never leave!" She brushed cobwebs off her robe and shook a spider from her sleeve. She took a step and then paused. "Wait a minute, I need you spider. Fresh is better." She grabbed the scuttling spider from the floor, carried it to the table, and trapped it under a glass.

"I'll show her for making fun of me and for winning the contest; Granny Cackle will love me better!"

With a determined brow Agatha set out to work; she quickly crushed the spider and threw it into the potion. To that she added a bat's wing, a bit of nightshade, and a pinch of salt. The fragrant purple concoction briefly turned black, then faded into a dark purple.

Aggie smiled to herself; she would win and she would finally be recognized as superior to Amelia.


	6. Absolute Disgrace

"Ahhh! " screamed Mildred as she plummeted from the sky, straight into the Grand Wizard's Lap.

Miss Cackle's heart dropped into her stomach; this was bad, very bad. She reached over to help him up.

"We are so sorry your honor! I'm sure there must be some simple explanation," choked Miss Cackle.

"A disgrace! An absolute disgrace! If your pupils are the witches of the future, Miss Cackle," sputtered the Grand Wizard, "I shudder to think what that future will be like."

There hadn't been a disaster this big since she had been in school. She looked at Mildred with anger edged with the tiniest bit of pity. Amelia knew what it felt like to disappoint the Grand Wizard.

Egbert Helibore's face glowed purple from the reflections of the characters acting out the Halloween tableau. A hush had fallen over the students and teachers as they watched the glowing purple silhouettes act out the story; they moved through the crowd with such grace, floating just out of reach, that the story seemed real.

"Wonderful job, Amelia," Granny Cackle whispered.

Amelia's cheeks glowed pink; she couldn't believe that her and Mellie's potion had actually worked so wonderfully. It felt good to be rewarded for all this hard work.

She watched as the characters floated closer to the Grand Wizard to finish the story; the young wizard looked absolutely entranced by the story and Amelia thought, with the purple glow on his face, he looked just as cute as everyone had said.

But wait, she thought, the characters were moving much too fast: much too fast! She watched in horror, unable to move as the characters spun faster and faster and caught into flames. The Grand Wizard would catch on fire! Amelia had to do something and looked around in panic to see if there was anything they could use to put out the flames. She spotted a pitcher of witch juice for the party afterward and grabbed it just as one of the characters touched Egbert's sleeve, sending a wave of dancing flames. Amelia ran up to the Grand Wizard and then threw juice over his sleeve, unfortunately mostly getting him in the face.

Suddenly, the woods became ghostly quiet; no one dared speak. The dancing flames from the potion had been put out but it seemed that while the witch juice had put out those flames, it did nothing to extinguish the burning anger that threatened to erupt. The Grand Wizard was absolutely seething with fury.

"What is the meaning of this?" He choked out, his face red with anger.

Amelia froze like a deer in headlights, unable to respond, unable to remove. Luckily, Granny Cackle was much braver and quicker to act and Amelia felt her warm hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure Amelia would not do this on purpose; something must have gone wrong with the potion. I assure you Grand Wizard, this was a simple mistake."

"Mistake! I am soaking wet and have nearly been assaulted by deadly flames," Egbert yelled, "If I did not know better I would say this is a political message against my new position."

"Grand Wizard! Believe me, the girls responsible will be punished," Granny Cackle said, looking down at Amelia and Melanie with disappointment in her eyes.

The Grand Wizard gave out a loud "hurumph" and turned his back, nodding to his fellow wizards that it was indeed time to part.

Amelia couldn't help feeling that he didn't look as cute as she thought; in fact he looked a bit pompous. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Agatha covering her face with her hands, stifling laughter. Of course Agatha would be pleased as punch that something had gone wrong. Amelia pictured the endless teasing and torment she would have to endure from her sister for making such a mistake.

Her heart dropped into her stomach as she imagined what kind of punishment Granny Cackle had in mind. One thing was sure, it couldn't be worse than embarrassing one's self in front of the ENTIRE school and the new Grand Wizard.


	7. Epistolary Revelations

"I wish I could join you," said Miss Cackle, grimly, horn rimmed glasses pushed on top of her head, "but I have to write a letter of apology to the Grand Wizard."

Miss Drill raised an eyebrow and turned to go enjoy a refreshing bike ride in the woods. Miss Cackle watched her go and let out a sigh; she really did not want to do this.

Miss Cackle entered her office and quietly closed the door. She quickly checked the cupboard to see if Miss Bat was hiding: she was not, luckily. Amelia needed to be alone. She stifled a yawn and dragged the typewriter out from one of the drawers. She stuffed in a sheet of crisp cream colored paper and stared at it for a good five minutes before she even dared to start typing.

"Dear Grand Wizard….."

She stared at the words, remembering a distant letter which had much the same content.

"Dear Grand Wizard,

I am so very sorry about what happened at the Halloween celebration. My friend Melanie and I worked very hard on that story potion, hoping to show you the best of Cackle's Academy. We worked on that potion for over a week and we tested it. While we are not sure of why the potion failed, we certainly did not expect the outcome of the potion to cause any harm to you. We apologize on behalf of Cackle's Academy and want you to know that we hold you in the highest regard. I also want you to know that I will act more carefully with future potions as part of my punishment for this awful event is to clean the potions lab and relabel and test all 5,000 ingredients. Once again, I am so very sorry for causing you any problems.

Sincerely,

Amelia Cackle"

Amelia let out a sigh of relief as she pulled the piece of cream parchment out of the typewriter; at least this part of her punishment was done. Although her arm hurt from writing labels on the ingredients in the potions lab, Amelia threaded another sheet of cream paper in the typewriter, gave a plaintive sigh, and began to type a second more important letter.

"Dear Melanie,

I just finished typing our apology letter to the Grand Wizard and I hope he accepts our apology. Honestly, I am not sure how our potion went so wrong but you would think that he was attacked by four huge and vicious warriors with the stink he is making.

I miss you already. I still believe that you would have made an outstanding witch. I also don't think this is totally our fault; we tested that potion and you were the one who double checked the ingredients. I do understand that you feel like you may not be cut out to be a witch and that you would do much better at a normal school. But I still miss you!

Maybe it is good that you got out while you can- a lot of strange things have happened after the Halloween disaster. Aggie has been worse than ever; all she does is tease me about how awful of a witch I am. She's the awful one! Witches are supposed to be polite, courteously, and careful (remember the Dr. Foster's effect Granny Cackle told us about!). Agatha is truly the worst witch at the entire school: she is mean, cruel, and she totally cheats on her homework all the time. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she did something to the potion. I can't prove it, but it seems like it would be right up her alley.

Besides Aggie being meaner, we actually moved locations. Remember mean old Wilimena Wormwood? We were dissecting bats in class and she went crazy, setting off fire spells. She burned down the school! And she told Granny Cackle it was because she was bitten by a bat when she was young! And Granny Cackle felt bad for her and let her off the hook. We didn't get let off the hook when our potion scorched the hem of the Grand Wizard's sleeve! Anyways, we had to move into Overblow Castle (you know, that drafty old castle up the hill?). It is so cold at night that I can barely get warm and the food is always cold because the kitchen is in the dungeon! Apparently, wizards used to use this place for their monthly seminars and events but the Grand Wizard's predecessor (who is much less stuck up than the new one!) offered it to us when he heard about what happened.

I hope you like your new school Mellie! I do miss you a lot; hanging out with Davina isn't quite the same as hanging out with you.

Love, your friend,

Amelia"


	8. Agatha Speaks

"I frogged your sister Amelia!" giggled Coldstone.

"Excellent!" Agatha cried.

"I don't even think she even realized."

The two cackled to each other at a job well done.

Agatha felt smug; it was almost too easy to turn her sister into a frog.

Then again, she had thought taking over the school from Granny Cackle would be easy also, but Amelia stole it from her with a silly trick.

No one even dared guess that Agatha was behind the Halloween disaster; it turned out more perfectly than she had dreamed. She finally got to show up her perfect sister and got that annoying non witch friend of hers to leave in the process. After that, Aggie ruled the school and Amelia faded into the background.

Agatha had always hoped to one day inherit the school for her own; she was the one with real leadership qualities, not her shy and awkward twin sister Amelia.

"It's in the bag," Aggie said nonchalantly as she reclined on her bed, "I graduate from Cackle's Academy in a few short months and Granny Cackle mentioned earlier this year that this was one of her last years her. I am very certain she will take me on as an apprentice next year and then give the school to me."

"What about Amelia?" piped up Wilimena, who liked to egg Aggie on.

"Please Wil," Aggie chortled, "Like my quiet goody goody sister could provide real leadership. You've see what she does; she spends all her time either studying in her room or hanging around with that dippy Davina Bat! No, she will probably make a nice teacher…at MY school!"

"But how will Mistress Cackle decide between the two of you? You are twins," spoke Wilimena, more adamantly.

"Honestly, Wil, you think because you got away with burning down the school that you can boss me around? I am the born leader. If Granny Cackle doesn't see that, then she is crazy!"

"You are right! I do enjoy bossing people around. When I get out of here I am going work my way up somewhere. One of these days, I will be the one who has a say!"

"Well, you will never live down that school burning incident," laughed Aggie, "That went on your magical record. You can't erase that."

"Easy!" yelled Wilimena, "I will just change my name! Anyways, you are changing the subject Aggs; what makes you think Granny Cackle isn't going to give the Academy to Amelia. She does have better grades than you now!"

"Hmm," ruminated Agatha, "You do have a point. Well, I will just have to make sure that Amelia is out of the running then."

Agatha didn't know how, but she knew she would have to find out if Amelia would be a threat to her future plans and, if so, stop her.

The next Sunday, Amelia and Agatha had their usual weekly lunch with their Grandmother. Agatha remained quieter than usual, trying to figure out a good time to broach the topic of the Academy.

"And you should read this book too Granny Cackle; you would love it," Amelia gushed, "It's all about the history of witch education. I quite stumbled upon it by accident last night in the library."

"Well, that does sound interesting," Granny Cackle replied, "I will have to read that. And, that reminds me, I am very glad that you are interested in formal witch education because I have something I want to ask you both."

Amelia's ears picked up; could it be that Granny Cackle was going to discuss her plans for the Academy.

"As you both know, I am planning on retiring from being headmistress in a few years. Part of the reason is that I have been doing this for such a long time! Another reason is that both of you are graduating soon and this would be an ideal opportunity to train my successor. Now, I have watched both of you carefully over the years and I have had quite a tough time deciding who should be responsible for this school after my retirement. With much deliberation, I have decided that I couldn't pick one of you so I had to pick both of you."

"What?" Agatha and Amelia both exclaimed.

"Well, despite being twins, the two of you are very different. Amelia is quieter and more passionate about her studies. She helps others learn and would make a fine educator. Agatha, on the other hand, while still a good student, has a natural born leadership; the other students listen when she talks! Why, she was unanimously voted in as class leader for that school trip we took last year."

Amelia wanted to point out that Agatha bullied everyone into it but decided not to interrupt Granny Cackle.

"This is why I think that the two of you together would make an unstoppable team," Granny Cackle continued, "I want you two to be co-Headmistress! Well, what do you think?" She looked at them expectantly.

"I think it would be a great idea Granny," said Amelia.

"Well, I don't think it would be a very good idea," said Agatha, at the same time, "What we need is one strong leader, namely me."

Granny Cackle was silent for a minute and then said, "Well girls, I did wonder at the idea of you two not being able to agree on anything. But I suppose if only one of you wants it then that sister can have it. If you both want it, we can follow my suggestion and train both of you."

Agatha glared at Amelia. Amelia smiled and said, "I definitely want to be headmistress Granny Cackle, and I wouldn't mind sharing the position."

Agatha sighed; she couldn't risk looking like a bully in front of her Grandmother. "And, of course I want to be headmistress as well. We can share the position."

After that they all went back to their lunch and talked about other things but Agatha was seething inside. Granny Cackle had mentioned that if one sister hadn't wanted to take the job, then the other sister would get it. Agatha had to find a way to take Amelia out of the running. She knew Amelia would never agree to step down, but perhaps she could make Granny Cackle think Amelia was going to step down.

That night, Agatha acted. She went to Amelia's room and crept in quietly but Amelia was not there. The Library! Amelia always snuck into the library late at night to read. Slowly Agatha snuck down the stairs and made her way over to the library. She opened the door and it creaked. She paused; her heart was racing. She saw a dim light behind one of the book shelves and walked over. In the corner was Amelia, with her back to Agatha. Agatha could barely see her with the dim candle light but she didn't pause in her action.

"Amelia, I've got you now, "Agatha cried out, "Alvrus Orcus, Transfrogomorphus…"

And Amelia turned into a frog! It was so easy. Being headmistress was in the bag. Actually, at the moment, the only thing in the bag was Amelia.

"Guess where you are going Amelia?" Agatha chuckled, "To the pond outside the castle. You can spend the rest of your days gobbling flies. Poor Granny Cackle won't know what to do with herself when she receives a note on her desk tomorrow morning explaining how you were scared of taking on the position and ran away. I basically deserve the job anyways, seeing as how I have initiative. Look at what I have done; I ruined your potion to make you look a fool at that Halloween celebration and Granny Cackle still picks you. And now I have….Ooof!"

Agatha turned the corner and ran right into someone.

"Hey, watch where you are going?" Agatha yelled, "I am on a very important mission here." She suddenly gasped. "Amelia! What are you doing, how are you….why are you here?"

Amelia looked puzzled. "Well, I just went to go to the bathroom and am now returning to my room."

"Then who did I turn into a frog?" Agatha gasped.

"What?" Amelia asked.

"I, uh, I thought I turned you into a frog."

"What! Why would you do that! You are such a big bully!"

And without another word Amelia, taking initiative of her own, snatched the bag from her sister, pulled the frog gently out of the bag and quickly muttered the reversing spell.

Both were shocked when Granny Cackle materialized in front of them.

"Well, I never!" Granny exclaimed, "Agatha Marie Cackle! How could you? I heard all of your confessions; you ruined the Halloween celebration and you were going to let your sister live in the pond for the rest of her life just so you could take over the Academy! Well forget about that young lady! This is going on your magical record and I am handing over the Academy to Amelia! Cackle's Academy is all about fairness and honesty."

"This isn't fair!" Agatha interjected, "Amelia tricked me. She probably knew that I would look in the library. I deserve the Academy! Give it to me!"

Granny Cackle just shook her head, disappointed, and ushered the two girls into her office. They had a lot to discuss.


	9. Piece of cheesecake

"You may go back to bed girls," spoke Miss Cackle, putting her arm around Mildred, "and in view of what you have done for the school this morning Mildred I think we should forget about flying accidents. Don't you Miss Hardbroom?"

"Hmm," Miss Hardbroom said, disapprovingly.

Miss Cackle went to open the door for Mildred and Maud and, to everyone's surprise, in staggered Miss Bat.

"Hello," Miss Bat said, dancing into the room, seeing the frozen trio of bad witches, "Have I missed anything exciting?"

Amelia was amazed by what had happened. Her sister had once again tried to take away the Academy. Just like the last time, she hadn't succeeded. Last time, it was pure luck that Aggie had changed Granny Cackle into a frog instead of Amelia. This time, it was due to Mildred Hubble.

Miss Cackle couldn't help smiling to herself; Mildred reminded her so much of her old friend Melanie. She had been thinking so much about Melanie and her past these past few days, she saw Mildred in a different light. Perhaps Mildred wasn't a bad witch, but just endured some bad luck, bad timing. After all, Agatha was skilled at spells but was a bad witch; in fact, Amelia would argue that Agatha was much worse of a witch than Mildred.

She poured herself some tea; it came out of the pot, the steam rising in fragrant coils. Everything was all right; Amelia was still in charge of the Academy and Agatha was once again barred from her goal of bossing around the witching world.

She couldn't help thinking of the day that they graduated and went their separate ways.

It was spring time; the air heady with fragrant flowers in the meadow beyond the castle. Amelia smiled as she watched Davina, still in her graduation robe, skipping through the flowers, singing a song. Amelia had to admit that Davina was quite a good chanter; perhaps she could teach chanting for Amelia one day. Amelia laughed at the thought; what would the students think of Davina Bat and her crazy antics?

Granny Cackle was seeing students off, personally talking to each one of the graduating students. Amelia walked back into the castle. Granny Cackle wasn't seeing her off; Amelia would stay here and become the Assistant Headmistress to learn the ropes, as Granny Cackle called it. She was nervous, but excited. She thought of Melanie and how she hadn't felt accepted. Amelia longed to help future students; there had to be a place for everyone.

"Thinking about what you will do with your Academy," Agatha sneered from the staircase, suitcase in hand.

"You don't have to leave, you know," Amelia pleaded, "Granny Cackle said you could teach here."

"No way! I will never play second fiddle to you, Amelia. I still believe you cheated me out of the Academy; Granny Cackle would have left it to me if you hadn't been trying to win her over with your book talk. Sneaky Amelia! Nevertheless, I was born to lead and I will work my way up. I've got a job that will allow me to do that."

"Job, what job?"

"Remember dear old Wilimena? Well, it turns out that crazy girl has changed her name: Broomhand or something. She was able to get a job as a private tutor with the Private Witch Educators. She is going to be tutoring the cream of the crop; only the really good families get private tutors. Anyways, she put in a good word for me and because I am a Cackle, I will get to start tutoring. Imagine it- I can use that rich family to get connections. It won't be long until I am the head of the Witch's Council."

Amelia shook her head. "Agatha, teaching isn't about making connections. You are actually going to have to help that student." She sighed. "Do you know who you get to tutor?"

"I haven't been assigned yet because I am so new. Wilimena already knows because she's had this job offer for a month now; she gets to work for the Hardbroom family. I am sure I will also be stuck with an equally prestigious Witch family."

"Well Aggie, I can't say I am thrilled for your student, but I am happy for you. I am glad you found something. I wish you the best of luck. And remember, you are always welcome at Cackles."

"I'm counting on that dear sister. You haven't seen the last of me!" Agatha cackled as she mounted her broomstick and flew out the door.

Amelia sighed: her sister would never change. Amelia felt bad for the student that Agatha would probably frighten. She also felt bad for the Hardbroom student that Wilimena Wormwood was taking on; Agatha was bad, but Wilimena was just as fierce. Amelia vowed to keep an eye out for that Hardbroom; she may need a more caring education after an encounter with Wilimena.

Amelia knew one thing for sure; she would run her Academy (for it almost was her Academy now) differently than Agatha. She would give everyone a chance, no matter what.

Her stomach growled; it was well after lunch time. Definitely time to head to the graduation reception and eat some cake. Perhaps there would even be cheesecake. Amelia decided then and there that she only had a few expectations of her school: one was to give everyone a chance and the other would have to be cheesecake and tea every day!


End file.
